


Falling for an Illiterate Teenager

by MalfunctioningKitten



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Library, Awkward Romance, Fluff and Smut, LawLu - Freeform, M/M, Rewrite, Romance, in which I've rewritten this fanfic twice already and we're trying again, it's the good shit i promise, probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 11:29:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14851905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalfunctioningKitten/pseuds/MalfunctioningKitten
Summary: There's something incredibly beautiful about the way he stumbles over words. Love blossoms in unexpected places, and between the pages of a book and with his every breath, Law can't help but sink deeper. Luffy deserves better, surely, but his desire to protect Luffy from his own demons loses to his desire to be with him. That smile like sunshine is too much to avoid.Is this the 3rd time I've posted FFAIT? Yes, yes it is. Listen, to all my former fans and to all my news ones, I'm sincerely so fucking sorry. I posted the first version years ago, then went AWOL because I lost motivation. The second version I just, gave up on after one single mean comment, and I just let it eat at me. I made empty promises about finishing this fic and I'm sorry. I will do whatever I can to make sure that this time, I don't drop off the face of the Earth. You can harass me for new chapters by sending me asks at GentleNakama.tumblr.com or @malfunctioningkitten on insta. Don't let me disappear again - I promise that this time, I'm doing it for real. For those who were fans of Press Send, I'll be doing the same with that fic, but this one comes first. Please bear with me.





	Falling for an Illiterate Teenager

Warm and sunny. That’s how the room felt with him in it, regardless of the falling snow outside the library window. Law watched with a tired adoration as the fully grown teenager stumbled over simple words, lips clinging to each syllable as he walked through the story. The boy, who looked completely and utterly out of place in a straw hat while it was snowing outside, had shown up every day for nearly a week, and it wasn’t hard to figure out that he didn’t know how to read. Why that was, Law didn’t know, or particularly care. He had to be eighteen or nineteen, did he just not go to school? Was his short attention span a full on attention disorder? Or did the boy have dyslexia..?  
  
Alright, perhaps he cared a little.  
  
Law took another sip from his coffee. Whatever the reason, this kid couldn’t read, but it didn’t stop him from feeling so god damn proud for each and every word he made it through. At first, Law had little interest in some annoying teenager, but the more he watched that smile grow, the way he tripped over words and seemed to glow with each new discovery.. Every word seemed to weave a little love song, and Law was weak for it. A near musical voice, a warm laugh, a smile full of sunshine and light. There was something so endearing about someone so pure, untouched by anything which plagued the world.

His lovestruck daze was interrupted by a pile of books dropped in front of his face, sending the man backwards in surprise. Monet stared down at him, adjusting her glasses, “You look awfully distant, Trafalgar. You never seem to get enough sleep, but especially lately you seem out of it. Something on your mind?”  
  
Moving his head to look past the woman, he let out a sigh when he saw the boy had already gotten up and left. Law looked up at her, rolling his eyes, “Why do you care? I’ve got more going on in my life than what little time I spend around you. Speaking of which, didn’t you get off like, ten minutes ago? I’m closing up tonight, you’ll just get in my way.” He stood, taking the stack of books off the counter.  
  
The woman made her way behind the counter, placing her hand on the wall next to Law’s head, pinning him uncomfortably against it, “Don’t forget, Law, I can tell Doflamingo any day that you’ve come back here. We had a deal, didn’t we? If you’re always distracted and tired, you aren’t doing what I need you to do.” She let him go, picking up a pile of papers and making her way to the door. “And for the love of god, Trafalgar, don’t go dragging that poor kid into your miserable life. You can keep thinking he’s cute from afar, but a man like you isn’t suited to a happy ending.”  
  
She left, leaving Law gripping the list of checked out books. Monet wasn’t necessarily wrong, but damn, did she have to make it hurt so much? Romance wasn’t an option for someone like him. Law ran a hand through his hair, putting the papers down and turning off the overhead lights. In the dark, the library was nothing more than a dark room. The sunset light filtered in, shadows of falling snow dancing on the ground.  
  
It wasn’t warm in the room without the straw hat boy who couldn’t read.

He locked the door, adjusting his coat as he left the library. The sun fell slowly, as if his heart were sinking with it. It was just a little crush, an innocent and fleeting crush. That’s all it was, and all it needed to be. His shoes crushed snow as he made his way back home, his thoughts burying him in crushed hopes and dreams. He wasn’t suited to a happy ending, that’s what Monet had said, but the weight of it crushed him. Loss was practically a way of life at that point, nothing mattered. If it weren’t for promises he had made, he would have killed himself a long time ago. He didn’t need to exist in a world without those who gave him a chance, and yet he did. Were he to fall in love, it would only be painful for him to watch another sliver of his happiness be crushed.

Law stepped up the stairs to his little townhome, unlocking the door. “I’m home, Bepo.” He called out, closing the door behind him. The large white dog bounced out of his room, nearly knocking him down at the door. “H-hey, buddy! I’ve only been gone a normal work day, what’s up with you?” He laughed, ruffling the white fur. Maybe Bepo knew he was miserable. It was alright to believe that at least something alive knew and cared when it hurt. He hugged his dog, burying his face in the fluffy fur. “Don’t ever leave me, Bepo. Don’t leave. Please.”  
  
Ah shit, he had started to cry. Did it truly hurt that bad?

Yeah. It did. Law stood up shakily, making his way back to his kitchen. The fridge was empty, save for a few water bottles and condiments. Nothing to eat. He rolled his eyes, shutting it and pulling a package of ramen from the cupboard. Law leaned his body against the counter while he quietly waited for the water to boil. Dropping the noodles into the water, he set a timer, cracking his neck. Life was boring. Monotonous. The same boring beat in the background of a song with no meaningful lyrics, a piano hitting the same note. Law poured his ramen into a bowl, sitting down on his couch in the silence of his house. Bepo curled up on the couch next to him, breathing out in a huff. The librarian smirked, setting his bowl on the table and ruffling the dogs fur. “Are you tired boy? Huh? You have a hard day of doing absolutely nothing?”  
  
This was better, at least, than being alone. Bepo filled some voids, gave Law some reason to keep moving as if he were somewhat alive. He dropped his bowl into the sink, opting to do dishes when he felt less horrible. Law dragged himself to his room, running a tired hand through his hair. He collapsed on the bed, followed by Bepo crushing him under his massive weight. It was alright though, it was reassuring, comforting. Law wrapped his arms around the dog, smiling through his own welling tears.

“Don’t leave me, I hate being alone.”

_______

The morning light woke him up, bleeding into the room and onto his bed. Bepo was still snoring next to him, which was alright. Dogs were allowed to sleep in. Law ruffled his fur, yawning as he stumbled out of bed, tossing off the clothes which he had carelessly left on when he had gone to sleep. He pulled on fresh clothes, brushed his teeth and hair, and trotted to the door.

“I’ll see you later tonight, Bepo!” He waved, despite the fact that the dog was certainly still asleep. Law pulled on his coat, shutting and locking his door behind him. The snow had stopped falling, but dark clouds above his head suggested the snow wasn’t over. Law walked slowly, burying his face in his scarf. Too cold, too lonely. The coffee shop was closed, which meant he couldn’t even have caffeine to recover after a night of full blown depression. Fucking great. The Library stood alone, an empty parking lot, no one in sight.  

The keys jingled as he went searching for the one for the front door. He sighed, a cloud of heat from his breath as he unlocked the door. Cold, quiet, early. Law made his way inside, sitting back down at the same counter which bored him nearly every day. The library wouldn’t have any people inside until midday, and at best there would be five in the building at a time. If he had to work any meaningless job, at least this one was slow and easy. Law clicked his pen, drawing on his notepad. A shiny smile, round cheeks, a soft jawline.. Quickly the paper showed him that sunny illiterate boy, and he was reminded that work was at least fun recently. Maybe nothing could ever come out of it, but there was something so reassuring about his smile. It was alright to be in love from afar.  
  
“Hey, is that me? That’s pretty good!”  
  
Law practically threw his pen, standing up in both embarrassment and surprise, only to knock his head into the head of the teenager leering over the counter. Both men groaned in pain, Law holding the top of his head while the straw hat boy held his now bleeding nose. The librarian panicked stuttering out apologies as he ran to the break room for the first aid kit and a roll of paper towels. He moved the boy to the sitting area, sitting him down. Law wiped away the blood from his face, tipping his head back. “Jesus, fuck, I’m so sorry. Your nose isn’t crooked, so it shouldn’t be broken, but we still gotta stop the bleeding..” The man pinched the teens nose, sighing. “Fucking hell, I really am sorry..”

Laughing, the teen took the paper towels wiping blood from his nose. “Not your fault, I didn’t even say hi, just hung over you. Sorry I distracted you, um...” He blinked, “Well, actually I don’t know your name, mr. librarian. I come every day and I still don’t know, I’m really sorry!”  
  
The librarian smiled, forgetting about the rest of the world as he moved to sit next to the boy, “Here, my nametag, can you read it?” He knew the kid probably couldn’t, but he wanted to encourage it. All the effort  he put in, he wanted to make him feel good.  
The teen swallowed, leaning forward to squint at the nametag. “ T.. Tra...Tora.. Tr..” He fumbled over the letters, frowning and knitting his eyebrows together as he got increasingly frustrated. Law hesitated before letting his tattooed hand reach up to ruffle the boys hair. It was straw-like, rough and messy like he spent too much time at the beach and not enough in the shower. He let a small smile slip, ruffling his hair.

“Don’t feel bad, it’s a really hard name. Do you want me to read it to you, or do you wanna keep trying?” Law pulled his hand back, trying to push down the smile. He wasn’t supposed to enjoy things, wasn’t supposed to forget the world. His attempts to suppress joy were killed when the teen let loose a toothy grin.

“It’s Torao right?”  
  
No, it was definitely not ‘Torao’, but the adorable pride in his voice killed Laws own desire to be called by his fucking name. So, it was Torao now. “It’s not, but you can call me that since it’s easier. My full name is Trafalgar Law, it’s kind of hard, huh? And what about you, what’s your name?” Law put his hands at his side, smirking down at the teen.  
  
“Luffy! I’m Luffy. “ The teen wiped the last of his blood off his face, looking around for a trashcan to toss the paper towels. Law chuckled, standing up and taking them along with the unused first aid kit.  
  
“Well, Luffy, you know where to find me if you need anything.” He walked back to his office, putting up the first aid kit and tossing the bloody paper towels. When he came back out, the teen was leaning on the library counter, staring at him with wide eyes. “Did you need something, Luffy?” He put a hand on his hip, walking over to the teen.  
  
“Can you teach me to read?” Luffy tilted his head to the side, eyes sparkling with pure pleasure at his little idea. Law stared at him, not speaking. Seriously? Why him, anyways? He was just the angry looking librarian, why would someone so bubbly and sweet want to even talk to him.  
  
Law folded his arms, letting out a sigh, a thin smile on his face, “I wish I could, but I don’t see why I should. I have to work, and anyways, it’s better if you don’t get to know me too well. Not to seem too edgy..” He sat down at his chair, looking up at the curious teen, “ I just don’t think it’s very healthy for people to spend time with me. You’ll end up getting dragged into something, no matter how little you know about me. If you need any help, you can ask me, but full on teaching you is just a task I can’t take on.” The librarian pushed Luffy’s head back, leaning on his other hand.  
  
The teens brows knitted in frustration, balling his fists, “ But I want you to teach me! And, I want you to be my friend! Who cares if you have drama, I’ll beat up anyone who makes you feel like you gotta be alone, ‘cause that’s dumb! Everyone deserves to have friends, so I’m gonna be your friend and you don’t get to argue.” Luffy stuck out his tongue, leaving Law with a stunned expression. What the hell was wrong with this guy? Stubbornness would usually have been a huge turn-off for Law. He was done with stubbornness, and yet, Luffy was a very strange exception.  
  
Law pinched his brow, shaking his head, “Fine, Jesus, I’ll teach you to read.”  
  
“And be my friend.”

The librarian rolled his eyes, “I’m not opening up to you just like that, you’ll have to work for it, kid.” Christ, what was he saying? Was the power of a little crush so much that he couldn’t deny someone who would so clearly be a pain in his ass? Apparently, the answer was hell yes. Law shook his head, leaning back in his chair, closing his eyes. “How about a deal? As a reward for every book you can finish reading, I’ll answer questions you have. Short books are one question, medium length are two, and so on. It’ll be motivation to keep reading, and you can learn about me without getting too close. Deal?”

Luffy nodded enthusiastically. “Deal! No takebacks! And you can ask me stuff too! But probably I’ll just tell you anyways, ‘cause I’m super cool and I have a lot to say.” The teen let loose a toothy grin, purely satisfied with the morning. “So, Torao, when do we start?”

“As soon as I have some fucking coffee.”  
  
He was gonna need caffeine for this one. Law sighed, looking up to see that Luffy had disappeared. Shit, did he actually go to get him coffee? The man stood up quickly, walking around the counter.  
  
Moron had left his red hoodie. Which meant, he was running around in the snow in just a t shirt. Law clicked his teeth, grabbing his own coat before picking up the hoodie, making sure to lock the library door before he went running out. Shit, it was his first day speaking to the kid, but it was already a huge hassle.  
  
All the world was quiet besides Law’s breath and the crunch of snow beneath his boots, he ran up the street, finally spotting the straw hat.  
  
“Luffy! Hold on, you idiot, you’re gonna freeze in this weather!”  
  
The teen stopped, turning around. He seemed confused for a moment, before belatedly reacting to the weather, “It’s cold!”  
  
“Notice that sooner, you idiot!” Law tossed the hoodie at Luffy, putting his hands on his knees and panting. “Why the hell did you run off so quickly? I wasn’t even serious about the coffee, you didn’t have to go running off like that.” He stood up, watching as Luffy zipped up his jacket, his smile bright as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.  
  
Luffy looked up at him, nose red from the cold. “Well, obviously I ran to get you coffee. I know you always have some, so I figured you’d be happier and nicer if I got it for you!”   
  
Law blinked before letting slip a small smile. “That’s very considerate of you, straw hat idiot. But it’s cold, come on, let’s get back inside the library. I wanna start teaching you, but we’re gonna start at the beginning. The full alphabet and all.” He turned to walk back, stopping when he felt a warm hand grab his own cold one. Luffy held onto his hand, trotting to walk next to Law. A smile accented by bright loving eyes sent heat throughout Law’s body, his face flushing pink. “W-what are you doing, idiot.. You’re not a little kid, you don’t need to hold my hand.”  
  
“But I want to!” The teen protested, grinning as he gripped Law’s hand. “You look cold, even when we aren’t outside. I wanna warm you up!”  
He certainly did warm Law up. The man breathed out a sigh, tentatively squeezing Luffy’s hand. “Whatever you say..”  
  
The walk back to the library was more like a dream than anything. White snow glittered in the pale light filtered through the clouds. Snow crunching beneath their shoes, clouds of warm breath in front of their faces as they moved. After a moment or two, they were walking in sync, breathing in and out in perfect unison. Law couldn’t quite tell if Luffy did it intentionally, or if those few minutes walking back to the library were spent in his own little heaven. It was perfect, just being near him, fingers locked in with his, letting the world pause around them. All that mattered was that moment, the quiet innocence of falling in love with an illiterate teenager.


End file.
